Thursday, July 10, 2008

Adult males are a "suspect" if they speak to an unknown child

For the second day in a row the campus paper BU Today featured this story:

BU Police Issue Sketch of Day-Care SuspectLikeness sent to area police, child-care centers

Boston University Police have released a sketch of the person who allegedly approached and spoke to a small child at the Boston University Children’s Center on Agganis Way late Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect, a white male about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with an average build and a high voice, was dressed in khaki shorts, a gray T-shirt, and a white baseball cap worn backwards. He reportedly stopped by the bicycle area of the Children’s Center, which is adjacent to BUPD headquarters, and spoke to a young child in the center’s care. He left the area when a day-care staffer advised him that he would have to check in before he could make contact with a child. The sketch, based on observations of a day-care worker who witnessed the incident, has been sent to local police departments, the Massachusetts State Police, and area day-care centers.

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What kind of assumptions are we making -- that the only reason a male in his mid 30s would chat with a child is predatory?

H said, "As a man, you just learn you're not suppose to talk with children you don't know. Hell, I cross the street when I see kids."

Scott Pare, deputy director of public safety for the University, says the BU Police and other departments are doing everything they can to locate the suspect. “We are reviewing all past reports of field observations,” says Pare. “We are studying videotapes. We have a description, and we are investigating every lead we have.”